Extreme Poverty in 2008

According to Census data from the American Community Survey compiled by CLASP, the percentage of people in extreme poverty (below 50 percent of the poverty line) is 5.6 percent. This percentage rises to 7.8 percent for children under 18 years old. Younger children appear to be the most vulnerable: 9.4 percent of children under 6 years old live in extreme poverty. The current poverty threshold for a family of four (two adults and two children) is $21,834. This means that nearly ten percent of children under 6 years of age live in households where the family annual income is less than $11,000.